Britain’s Conservative party is causing double takes with its new pre-election posters (like the one above). “It’s a strange campaign that seems to distill the current state of British politics,” notes Sam Jacobin a piece on Icon magazine’s website. “Politics has become an aesthetic project rather than a verbal one. Positions are not set out in words, but expressed through hyper-sophisticated images.”

Revolution! Evolution! Stop, you’re both right. Stefano Tonchi doesn’t officially take the editorial helm of W until April 12, but times, they’re already a-changin’. Longtime creative director Dennis Freedman is leaving the magazine, according to WWD. “I have had the most extraordinary experience working with some of the most talented and brilliant photographers, artists, and editors in the world, and these collaborations have brought me unbelievable joy and satisfaction,” said Freedman. “For me, this has been one of the greatest opportunities I could ever hope for.”

A team led by Pentagram’s Paula Scher has transformed a Brooklyn charter school with bold environmental graphics. The project, a collaboration with Rogers Marvel Architects, celebrates language with motivational supergraphics that define the school’s interior spaces. Taste the rainbow.

Spark your own revolution with Kickstarter, a new twist on microfinance that helps designers, artists, illustrators, filmmakers, and other creators bring their projects, events, and dreams to life. Post your own project or pledge your support to others in return for rewards that range from books and t-shirts to autographed meat cleavers (from one enterprising Boston butcher). Among the projects currently seeking support are a comics newspaper, a fledging fashion line, and a hip-hop videogame that will feature the names of all donors graffiti’d into the background scenery.
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• PRNewser: Publicist Susan Blond demonstrates why elevator operators and door men are better than husbands. And not just in terms of elevator sex.

• FishbowlLA: The brave souls at FishbowlLA decided to give Chatroulette a whirl. Improper spelling and requests for boob shots abounded, which makes us wonder if there’s any real difference between this and dating in New York.

• The Post: Ohio University President Roderick McDavis granted tenure to journalism professor Bill Reader even though others in the administration thought he was sort of a dick and accused him of carving the words “truth” and “comfort” into his arms and threatening them. Reader denies these allegations.

]]>Alex Alvarezhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/blond-leading-the-blind-fishbowlla-meets-jabba-the-slut-youtube-gets-a-makeover/15317#disqus_thread
Alex Alvarez
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/blond-leading-the-blind-fishbowlla-meets-jabba-the-slut-youtube-gets-a-makeover/15317
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/fishbowlny-newsstand-your-morning-at-a-glance-22_b15336Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000Jobs Of The Day: Editor In Chief Of American Craft Magazine, MoreAmerican Craft Magazine wants to hire an editor in chief. They’re based in Soho, NYC right now but are soon moving to Minneapolis, MN. You’ll have to evolve the magazine and grow a new staff in the new location. Sounds like fun!

“The new editor has the opportunity and the challenge to maintain the high quality of the magazine and website, showcasing and interpreting past, present and emerging fine craft. He or she will build on and evolve the magazine beyond its recent comprehensive redesign. The editor will simultaneously build a new staff in a new location. At the same time, the American Craft Council will be reinforcing its own role in the contemporary craft world; revamping the Councils website and focusing on the way it can impact and support the field. While American Craft is not a house organ for the Council, the new editors openness to exploring the appropriate interrelationship between the two is important.”

Every day we scour major job boards, including, but not limited to Mediabistro.com’s listings, to find the best media jobs out there. We screen out duplicates and scams so you know you’re only receiving the top choices.

]]>Rachel Kaufmanhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/jobs-of-the-day-editor-in-chief-of-american-craft-magazine-more/311084#disqus_thread
Rachel Kaufman
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/jobs-of-the-day-editor-in-chief-of-american-craft-magazine-more/311084
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/jobs-of-the-day-editor-in-chief-of-american-craft-magazine-more_b311084Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:46:05 +0000Hear, Hear For The Compressed WorkweekCompanies are increasingly realizing that a compressed workweek—where you work four ten-hour days—is better than a regular workweek for tons of reasons.

The state of Utah began offering that option to employees in 2008, and recently asked their workers whether they liked the option. A whopping 82% loved it, reports HRE Online.

“I don’t think you could survey any American workplace and get 80-some percent of the employees to agree on the color of the sky,” Michael Fischl, a University of Connecticut law professor who organized a four-day workweek symposium, told HRE Online.

Companies love it because it saves money, energy, and the environment, not to mention reducing overtime costs. Employees love it because they have one less day of commute, they feel more productive, and can get errands like doctor appointments done on Friday.

“Anecdotally, we’ve heard comments from Utah employees that a 10-hour day is long and that they’re exhausted,” Lori Wadsworth, a Brigham Young University professor who has been surveying Utah employees, told HRE Online. “But many also say they’re really energized because they know they’ll have a three-day weekend.”

Drawbacks: Less time to go out to dinner or do other evening activities, finding childcare with extended hours, and the fact that you’re working ten freaking hours a day.

The Feds have an option where you work nine 9-hour days and get the tenth day off, which seems like somewhat of a compromise.

]]>Rachel Kaufmanhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/hear-hear-for-the-compressed-workweek/311083#disqus_thread
Rachel Kaufman
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/hear-hear-for-the-compressed-workweek/311083
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/hear-hear-for-the-compressed-workweek_b311083Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:28:25 +0000‘My Goal…Is That At Least 90% Of Readers Think The Content Was Created By A Human’Another in the robots-are-taking-over-journalism vein: Robbie Allen, the founder of StatSheet.com, says he’s come up with 21 different types of sports stories that can easily be written by a computer. “My goal for these [automated] blogs in version 1.0 is that at least 90% of the readers think the content was created by a human,” he blogged last week.

He added: “Will automated content be the end of sports journalism or blogging? Definitely not. There are always multiple sides to every story. And of course there are some categories of news (e.g. breaking news stories) that can’t be easily automated. I’d like to see an algorithm write a story about Tiger Wood’s infidelities! However, it will take only a short amount of time to get to the point where the average sports fan can’t tell the difference between human generated content and automated content.”

Allen’s starting with basketball and will move into NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB games.

Just remember, y’all: never trust robots.

]]>Rachel Kaufmanhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/my-goal-is-that-at-least-90-of-readers-think-the-content-was-created-by-a-human/311082#disqus_thread
Rachel Kaufman
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/my-goal-is-that-at-least-90-of-readers-think-the-content-was-created-by-a-human/311082
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/my-goal-is-that-at-least-90-of-readers-think-the-content-was-created-by-a-human_b311082Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:16:40 +0000Joe Pompeo Leaves The New York Observer For Business InsiderJoe Pompeo is leaving his post as managing editor of the New York Observer for the Business Insider, where he’ll help staff their media news blog, “The Wire.” There, he’ll join another former Observer writer, Gillian Reagan.

Henry Blodget, Business Insider‘s editor in chief and CEO (and one half of the great Twit Fit of 2010), was uncharacteristically succinct when asked about the new hire by the Village Voice: “World domination! Thrilled to have Joe.”

]]>Alex Alvarezhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/joe-pompeo-leaves-the-new-york-observer-for-business-insider/15316#disqus_thread
Alex Alvarez
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/joe-pompeo-leaves-the-new-york-observer-for-business-insider/15316
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/sheila-mcclear-heads-to-the-new-york-post_b15335Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:59:44 +0000David Mills, Journalist and Writer of Acclaimed TV Dramas, Dies at 48David Mills, newspaper reporter turned writer for acclaimed TV dramas, died Tuesday of a brain aneurysm. He was in New Orleans working on a new HBO series, “Treme,” which is currently in production. New Orleans Times-Picayune writer Dave Walker this morning confirmed his death, citing an HBO spokesman.

A longtime collaborator with “The Wire” creator David Simon, Mills wrote for “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” “The Wire” and other shows. He won two Emmies for his work on the HBO miniseries “The Corner,” another Simon collaboration. Before finding work in television, Mills wrote for The Washington Post and other publications.

“HBO is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and colleague David Mills,” the network said in a statement. “He was a gracious and humble man, and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him, as well as those who were aware of his immense talent. David has left us too soon but his brilliant work will live on.”

CEO Tim Armstrong has expressed a strong desire to turn AOL into the Time, Inc. of the 21st Century–a content production engine with great premium brands, super search-engine-optimization, a booming local news business, and a revolutionary freelance assignment and management tool that will give voice to thousands of aspiring journalists around the world. Tim has spoken often of AOL’s commitment to journalistic excellence as well as its commitment to finally figuring out the sustainable low-cost online content-production and distribution model that is eluding most traditional media companies.

And that sounds good. Insiders believe that Tim’s heart is in the right place. They also believe that AOL may eventually be able to cobble its myriad divisions and properties and strategies into a more unified whole.

But there’s a huge gap between theory and execution, and right now, AOL’s content strategy is a mess.

AOL runs sites like Engadget, Daily Finance, etc., but also has “content farm” Seed assigning articles. And it sounds like these two halves haven’t figured out how to work together.

Blodget writes: “AOLers are not clear whether AOL’s Google management intends to pursue a Demand-Media-like content farming strategy, in which editors and writers are perceived as annoyingly-high costs, or a premium content strategy, in which editors and writers are viewed as rare and valuable talent who can build big standalone brands.”

AOL’s made some high-profile hires over the past year so it seems unlikely that it will dump all the folks it lured away from the AP, HarpersBazaar.com, ESPN.com, and more. But it did just launch Seed. So this is certainly a company to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile, in other news of Internet companies from the ’90s that are still inexplicably around, Yahoo! has hired a dozen journalists for Yahoo! News. Politico’s Michael Calderone is heading over there, which was hugely talked about in the blogosphere last week, but also moving to Yahoo News are Jane Sasseen, formerly of BusinessWeek, and Emmy-winning news producer Anna Robertson. Three years ago, Yahoo started creating original sports content and found it profitable. So now the company hopes to “maintain our healthy profit margins,” James Pitaro, head of media at Yahoo, told the NYT.

]]>Rachel Kaufmanhttp://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/blodget-aols-content-strategy-a-mess-meanwhile-yahoo-beefs-up-staff/311081#disqus_thread
Rachel Kaufman
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/blodget-aols-content-strategy-a-mess-meanwhile-yahoo-beefs-up-staff/311081
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/blodget-aols-content-strategy-a-mess-meanwhile-yahoo-beefs-up-staff_b311081Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:51:58 +0000John Cusack Not a Fan of Ronald ReaganActor John Cusack took a turn guest-blogging at BoingBoing today with some fun results. Channeling his inner Hunter S. Thompson, Cusack unleashed one of the better anti-Ronald Reagan rants we’ve read in quite some time, and pulled this bizarre video from the 1985-86 Superbowl.

As you can see in this video now, watching the performance was like diving into an ocean of bad fashion and forced smiles. Dr. Pepper dancing and Mom Jeans from shore to shore… pre-Prozac in motion…. military ballet… Mandatory cheers and quasi-religious cult patriotics… the glory of the empire. A choreographed tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. A celebration of diversity, unity, and fluorescent leggings.

Meanwhile, Reagan was dumping all the mentally ill and vets out on the streets to die, as a direct result of his policies.